Friday: 'Give America a Raise' bus tour comes to Columbus

The minimum wage is a hot button issue these days; some think raising it could lead to economic growth, others don't. President Obama wants to raise it from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour by 2016. Some new findings show raising the minimum wage does,...

The Give America a Raise tour will stop in Columbus at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, March 28 at the SEIU District 1199 office, 1395 Dublin Road. Special guests will include U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, candidate for Ohio Treasurer Connie Pillich, and Ohio Representative Mike Foley.

A study by Restaurant Opportunities Centers United found that raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would lift more than half of the working poor in the United States out of poverty.

The shrinking middle class and the growing ranks of the poor are not the only people affected by economic inequality. It also threatens the overall stability of the American economy.

In modern times, the years of widest income disparity in the United States were 1928 and 2007 — two years before the greatest economic crashes.

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Steve Palm-Houser is a member of the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Columbus. He studies the mystical aspects of several world religions. Steve works as an instructional designer and freelance writer. He can be reached at steve.palmhouser@gmail.com.